Stance, bow, action

With a mischievous glint in his eyes and a nearly-exasperated tone, 12-year-old Behram Hathi rattles of the routine for this upcoming six-day visit to Japan: No television on the flight, wake up early, eat breakfast on time, walk in a straight line...

Despite the restrictions, Behram and his 10-year-old sister Abha are over the moon that they, along with 18 of their friends from the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation, will be on stage at the Takasaki Youth Music Festival in Takasaki on Tuesday, 23 September 2014. This is the first time in the Foundation's nearly two-decade history that its students will perform outside the city; the Foundation was set up in memory of renowned maestro Zubin Mehta's late father, Mehli. The tour is also a matter of pride because children as young as nine-year-olds are part of the 20-member string ensemble; 15 of the 20 kids are 12 or less than 12 years old.

"As soon as Maestro (Zubin) Mehta heard that the kids are going to Japan, he called our founder-trustee Mr Jeejeebhoy and warned us that the Japanese are way ahead and so we must ensure that our kids don't make spectacles of themselves. They must be absolutely trained," says Farahnaaz Dastur, honorary director of education programmes at the Foundation.

The repertoire that the kids' tender hands will play on the violin and the viola features the national anthem Jana, gana, mana, Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D, Antonin Dvorak's Cavetina, Edmund Angerer's Kinder Symphony, Do Re Mi and traditional Japanese songs.

"They've learnt the national anthem with a lot of trouble. It's a very, very difficult piece to learn on the string instruments," reveals Dastur. "String instruments are not easy to pick up. On an average, it takes about two years for a person to hit a note on a string instrument before they get it right."

The Canon in D, a piece that is easily recognisable and commonly played at weddings globally, was also equally tricky for the kids to perfect. "It's not easy because there are a lot of notes that you have to keep sustained," explains Behram. "Sometimes if your finger shivers even a tiny bit, the note goes out of tune."

This called for immense dedication and innumerable practise sessions. This is where two of the foundation's teachers — Gopal Chakravartty and a Japanese, Mika Nishimura — have been instrumental in preparing the kids. "The teachers take it up as a challenge to ensure that every student is ready," says Dastur.

If that meant that Taarini Gurjar, who cut her ninth birthday cake just about two weeks ago and is the youngest of the 20 kids, had to come in for an extra session to make it to the tour, then she did, says her mother, Ruhi Gurjar. Behram and Abha's mother, Zeenia, says the children gave up on birthday parties and other outings to focus on the music. "The kids have been practising extra hard and in all earnest, consistently for more than two months now," says Zeenia.

All the trade-offs, the innumerable practise hours and rehearsals have paid off. On the eve of their group's departure, Dastur is certain that the kids will perform beautifully. "There's no question that they will play well. I am confident of that," says Dastur. "But I would also like them to respect each other, as well as their differences on the stage and off the stage, and for them to get a true experience of what it is like to tour in an orchestra."